Adulthood
by PhaerynTao
Summary: Eddy and Lee reach an unexpected understanding as they both rapidly approach the so called 'prime of life'.


a/n: This fic is almost purely experimental, probably not the best either. Its been lying around forever, and I just got around to finishing it. Sorry if its too short, I'm a oneshot kinda person. First EEnE fic, but I've been meaning to write one for a while now.

Ed Edd n' Eddy belongs to Danny Antonucci.

* * *

Eddy walked out of the small town grocery store, a plastic bag full of various provisions swung over his shoulder. It was late, and the street lights had been powered for hours by now. He had been buying his own food, gas, and school books for college, and he was turning flat broke very quickly. But there was nothing he could do. His parents cut him off ever since he told them that he wanted to move out soon, thus giving him a first hand lesson on what it was all about.. 

Life was…dull, to say the least.

The cul-de-sac was becoming a ghost town. None of his childhood peers had moved out yet either, oh no. They were still there. But they all had social lives and were often out doing things that teenagers were supposed to be doing, like partying and making out and running from the cops and cruising around in their brand new sports cars that their parents would lovingly buy for them. Eddy had just turned eighteen, getting a good idea about what the rest of a person's ages were like once they turned into an adult.

All the while, Eddy slaved away at his job at the telemarketing company, hours upon hours of people blowing him off and screaming at him for being an ass to call during dinner. At first, he figured it was his cup of tea. He was the lord of scams for Christ sake, what would be so hard about selling a simple newspaper?

And when he wasn't fighting off boredom at work, he was struggling to keep his studies above sinking level at home. Up late at night with five cups of coffee surrounding the pages of various essays and math worksheets, Eddy would battle sleep and laziness.

Could this truly be him? Studious? Hardworking? Self reliant for a change?

He didn't know. He didn't care at this point.

Eddy wasn't really himself anymore.

He walked down the streets, his mind straying to random things that had happened since his childhood. This was the same line of stores that he used to run by relentlessly to get to the candy store before they closed, the same sidewalk that he would tiredly move his legs over each morning he walked from home to Peach Creek Junior high. Those days seemed so long ago, and in a sense they were.

He still had those two. The two that made his childhood worth every second and every beating from the other kids in the cul-de-sac.

They had grown gravely apart, and it made Eddy sick every time he thought about it. Edd, who had graduated one year before any of them due to his exceptional academic work, had gone out of town to a college fair, and Eddy knew he would have an absolute ball. He wanted to be happy for his scholarly friend, he really did. But he knew that the sock-adorned young man would end up being someone great, and he would leave them all behind.

Leave him behind.

Now.

Ed on the other hand…left him in a very different way.

Eddy hardly ever saw the man anymore. A rare replica of Sasquatch, Ed somehow learned to drive. And learned to stay out late. And learned how to play the games of their cruel peers. And learned how to break the law.

And learned how to pity himself.

Eddy was no better, he could admit that. He had done his fair share of partying. But when the three of them stepped into the great big hideous environment of high school he had a feeling that things had the potential to get messy. And boy did they. It affected Ed in such a way that his demeanor of jubilancy turned to that of normal teenage lifelessness. He hadn't seen Ed in months. And he had no earthly clue where he could possibly be. At this point it was certain that he wanted both his genius and his idiot back. It took a lot of harsh realities to make him become self reliant, but he honestly wondered which was worse; finding out his life was going to hell, or the loneliness he felt when he tried to fix it.

As he rounded a corner, the plastic bag hanging lazily from his hand, he saw a dark figure sitting on the sidewalk, bringing up a cigarette slowly to their lips. Eddy squinted his eyes, trying to make out the person in the dim glow of the streetlights. They were wearing a hoodie of some kind, and underneath the hood he could see a small fluff of tangerine hair.

_Lee_?

He stopped walking, and stood in the shadows unbeknownst to her, and considered turning around and going the other way. Rather instinctual of him, actually. After what he and his two friends had been through involving the Kanker sisters, even at eighteen years old his first reaction was to flee.

The Kankers were the live-in students ever since he could remember. Always at school, rarely in class, often seen roaming the halls or making themselves comfortable in an abandoned janitor's closet. As Junior high progressed, he started seeing them less and less. At the time, this was something to be thankful for. But he had such a ridiculously self centered mind back then. He never wondered as to why they had just given up their education so eagerly, as if there was no hope of them becoming something anyway.

Sometimes…he really thought he was starting to think more and more like Double D.

In high school, all three of them vanished. The only signs of their existence were their screeches that echoed from the trailer park, their arguments with each other becoming more intense and personal. No longer did they bitch at each other for the sake of bitching; they were truly beginning to grate on each other's nerves more than ever before.

Before he knew it Eddy had already dedicated a whole minute to standing there and gazing blankly at the redhead, who still hadn't been alerted to his presence. He knew he should get home. But if he took the other route by avoiding her it would take him twice as long to get home.

_Dammit…my frozen food is gonna go bad._

His hand unknowingly gripped the bag tighter, causing the plastic to crinkle. Lee's neck snapped to attention, automatically bolting into standing position in response to the noise.

"Who the hell's there?" She said, not a hint of fear in her voice, which still carried somewhat of her north eastern accent.

Sighing, knowing that unless he broke his cover she was probably going to stab him, Eddy stepped into the light.

"Yo." He said lamely.

Lee raised an eyebrow. Her expression was not annoyed, but quite surprised instead. Then she chuckled.

"If it ain't Eddy…haven't seen you around in ages." She said, taking another drag from cigarette, which was still in tact even as she was about to pounce on him in aggression.

"Yeah…h-how're you?"

His mind screamed _'the hell? You're asking a KANKER how she's doing!_

"Just peachy." She said, nonchalantly not meeting his eyes and sticking her nicotine-free hand in the pocket of her dark blue hoodie. There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"You goin' home?" She asked suddenly.

"Uh huh…" He said uncertainly.

"Good. I'll walk ya."

They began walking in the direction of the sacred cul-de-sac. Eddy started to sweat. Everything he was taught about this girl was ringing in his mind, but he still didn't shy away from her. Several times he chanted in his mind that the days of bone breaking hugs and sloppy red lipstick kisses were over.

"So, _darling._ How're you holding up in your last year of high school?" She asked coyly.

Eddy resisted rolling his eyes. Some elements will never change.

"I'm close to graduating. Pretty neat, huh?" Eddy said pointedly, inadvertently referring to the girl's lacking in the education department.

Lee snorted. "Sure, nothing like making sure you get your place at damn car lot. I'm sure you'll be very successful."

"At least I'm TRYING to be successful." Eddy said bitterly.

Lee said nothing to that, and reached up her hand to brush her long orange hair out of her face. Eddy glanced at her face, something anyone was rarely able to see. She still wore sky blue eye shadow, had the same long eyelashes, and her features were sharp as ever. Her hair had grown to be a thick waterfall of carroty waves, still as untamed as ever. She had a very tall stature that was close to his own (which was not entirely surprising, as he had never been very lofty), almost slender, but the true characteristics of her body were hidden by a large sweatshirt and baggy dirty denim jeans.

He hated to admit it, but she looked good and womanly; two traits he thought he'd never use to describe a Kanker. Subconsciously he secretly wished she was around longer, just so he had the chance to see her grow up.

There were other things different about her, although not as pleasant to think about. Her old taste in clothes had always been gaudy, but now she dressed like a slob and the smell of cigarettes hovered around her like a bad dream. In sophomore year Eddy smoked, and still did occasionally so he didn't have a huge problem with it, but the smell was something he always minded.

"So where are your boyfriends? I always thought you guys were joined at the hip. Sure made it easier for us to catch you."

"Double D's going to college…" Eddy answered, "…And I have no idea where the hell Ed is."

"Really." She said, flicking her cig onto the ground only to light up another.

"What about your sisters?"

Lee sneered. "Hell if I know. May just sits in the woods all day and Marie is probably downtown whoring herself around. It's been that way ever since eighth grade."

"Dang, sorry I asked." Eddy said.

"Ah to hell with them. I couldn't give a damn what they did. It's their loss."

Lee sighed.

"But it sure sucks to be busting my ass at three jobs when all they do is sit around and eat all the food."

It slightly disturbed him that they were being so conversational/open with each other. Eddy wasn't like that to _anyone, _let alone someone like Lee. Not to mention her words were breaking down any assumptions that he previously had. His life hadn't been a picnic, and he soon realized that neither was hers.

"So that's why you stopped coming to school?" He asked quietly.

"Yep…I had more important things to worry about than turning in math problems."

He had to admit that if he were in the same situation he would've dropped out too.

But he wasn't in the same situation. In fact, it was the exact opposite. If he didn't push himself academically, he would lose everything. He had a job himself, but it was just that; one. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to work as much as Lee did, and try to focus on his studies at the same time. Both of their threesomes had more or less perished. Their only companions had gone their separate ways. Of course, Eddy couldn't help but feel gratitude toward the fact that at least he didn't have to go out of his way to support them.

His eyes snapped back to the girl to his side, startled as quiet tears began to leak down her face. He said nothing. What on earth could he say? He never comforted anyone in his entire life before; it wasn't as if he would miraculously harbor the skills to do so. He could do nothing but stare with an expression of slight grimace as Lee brusquely wiped away the tears, smearing her makeup.

So vulnerable. So disgustingly, humanly vulnerable. It made him tremble to look at her like this. Emotion was something that Eddy made sure he didn't have to deal with often, and tonight it came and slapped him in the face. Lee was more or less his female double; hard assed, aggressive, relentless to get what she wanted.

"I tell you, Eddy." She said, her voice cracking through the tears. "There's nothing harder than to go back to an empty trailer after a fourteen hour work day."

"…"

"They're bitches…they were always bitches. But that doesn't mean I don't love them, ya know?"

"Ah…"

"And they act like they don't even care about me no more…"

Eddy was nearly speechless, only able to make small inaudible noises in response to her sudden spill of sad affirmations. But unlike his habits in the past, he made no attempt to retreat from her. For the first time he would let someone vent to him instead of it being the other way around. And contrary to what he thought it would be like, it did not feel like an obligation.

He actually _wanted _her to keep talking, to keep confessing the details of her dreary life, even if it did make him mourn the emptiness of his own life. He never realized it before, but these emotions made him feel alive; a feeling that blood was still pumping through his veins each time he became a zombie in the heat of today's world. Pushed into adulthood, the lot of them. Double D into a first rate college when he was only in eleventh grade, Ed into self destruction, himself into mental dissatisfaction.

The two of them finally walked to the mouth of the cul-de-sac.

Lee's whimpers died away quickly, regaining her harsh composure. Reaching into her pocket she took out yet another cigarette and went to light it, but in a flash Eddy's fingers grasped the stick of tobacco and gently pulled it away from her lips. Indignation flickered across her face.

"Shit's bad for you, Lee." Eddy said dismissively.

"A day of crap and you think I care about a goddamn cigarette giving me lung cancer? Fat chance."

Defeated, he handed the cig back to her and she lit it quickly.

"Your insides will turn black, you little chain smoker." Eddy half teased.

Lee did not smile. Exhaling a cloud of gray smoke she sighed heavily.

"My insides have been black my whole life, genius. This your house?"

Losing track of time while walking with the redhead, he hadn't even paid attention to whether or not he was home. He found himself looking upon the sidewalk entrance to his house.

What should he say to her when they parted, he wondered. What could he say to her after so many years of being a victim her overly romantic and sometimes violent antics, so many years of her absence, and then walking in on her sitting on the sidewalk for whatever reason? Eddy used to look at Lee and literally want to gag. He would hide every time he would hear her heavy jersey-like accent echoing through the school halls. So many preteen desperations involving her lips pressed up against his cheek. Could this really be the time to acknowledge all of that?

He wanted to. He wanted to talk about their childhoods and finally be able to laugh about it. They were both in their late teens amidst of the vastly cruel and unexpected world.

Eddy's need to say something was evident, but he simply could not find the words to express himself. Typical.

"Got somethin' to say there, Eddy?" Lee said, raising her eyebrows keenly.

He couldn't do it. He would, he should, but he couldn't.

"Nothing. Have a good night, Lee." And he left to retire within his home.

He was going to the community college, and she would probably still be working three jobs all the way into her adulthood. Inwardly he vowed that he would converse with her more often, whether it be from coffee in a local café or finding her again on the sidewalk in the shine of a streetlight trying to have some time to think by herself when she rarely had any.

Eddy decided that there was time. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't going to rush something or allow something to rush him.


End file.
